Space Invaders competes with Pac-Man for the title of the defining arcade game. But the 8-bit graphics always seemed a little unrealistic. So one engineer decided to make a real-world version, using lasers.
Martin Raynsford is one of the owners of Just Add Sharks, a UK-based laser cutter manufacturer — in other words, a guy who has easy access to a 8oW laser tube. He hooked up the laser cutter with a custom controller, pointed it at a series of paper ‘invaders’, and set about the vital work of saving humanity from the aliens.
The result is more or less what you’d expect when you aim a powerful laser at paper: everything burns. But the end result is nothing short of amazing: real-world Space Invaders, with real-world lasers. [Just Add Sharks via Boing Boing]
Contact the author at chris@gizmodo.com.